My hubby and I are planning on going on a cruise in September but haven't decided with who yet.

My hubby is diabetic and insulin dependant. I'm wondering which ships have mini fridges that the insulin can be kept in. Carnival said they replace in the cabins three times a day and it could be kept in the ice bucket or with room service or at the pursars desk. None of those are ideal. The ice option really stinks in my opinion.

Anyone heere have to deal with this??

I was also wondering if the windows in the oceanview rooms on most ships open or not?

Hi Tasha,
What ships are you thinking about? Our last few cruises on Princess, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity all had mini fridges, wondering if you are looking at any of those? I do agree, a mini fridge would be the best for the insulin.

I've been looking at Carnival and Royal Carribean. My hubby wants an oceanview room but none of them seem to list it as a standard item. Is it better to go through a TA so they can deal with asking for stuff like that? I just assumed that it would be much more expensive because they need to earn a commision.

Do you by chance know which of the Carnival cruise ships have the mauve decor in their rooms? In all the pictures I've seen of the cabins they are completely pink or mauve looking. Not something I would want to spend a week in. lol.

Location: Wisconsin....about 100 miles south of the Frozen Tundra and 70 miles east of Camp Randall

Posts: 9,552

Re: Fridges for diabetics.

On the new "Spirit" class ships of Carnival (Pride, Spirit and Legend) and possibly the Conquest class, they do have mini fridges in all cabins.......Princess and Celebrity have mini-fridges in all cabins.

As a nurse, I agree ice is not ideal, but insulin CAN be kept unrefrigerated for up to thirty days after opening (we do not refrigerate insulin at our facility and have never had a problem and have never had a citation by any regulatory agency...this is acceptable practice.)

In February we sailed with Royal Caribbean on the Splendour of the Seas. On the first night, the cabin steward brought me a mini fridge (free of charge) to refrigerate my medication. You might want to call Royal Caribbean ahead of time to ask.

all cabins on Princess have a mini-fridge in them. On another note regarding the use of a TA - 90% of the time you can get the same price or better on a cruise if you work with a TA , and they do all the work for you! all you have to do is pick up the phone or stop into the agency and they do the rest.

Hubby is insulin dependent and has been for several years. We sailed the Spirit 12/01 and used the fridge (steward locked around 9 pm the last nite and it took 2+ HOURS TO GET SECURITY TO OPEN but he ice bucketed our half sandwich). 11/02 we did the Dream and just left it at room temp with no problems for our 12+ day trip.

Apparently it can. A fellow diabetic with whom we shared lunch showed me showed me a device he carries that containd a days worth of insulin and several needles. He kept it on him with no attempt to refrigerate.

If we are having a multi-errand or all over the place type day hubby often pre-fills his syringes and we just carry them in a zip-loc in his pocket or my purse. Most recent example was a couple weeks ago when we started out shopping for a replacement washer dryer, added in a couple stops for tux accessories (daughter is getting married in Aug, cruise is 6/1) and found ourselves 35 minutes from home and 5 minutes from daughter's. Rang her bell and were asked to stay for dinner. Would have been impossible if hubby wasn't carrying.

My wife has diabetes, and whenever we go to a hotel (NYC, SanFran, etc.) they give us a small frige with no extra charge - I would think that a cruise ship would too, as I see cruise lines steps ahead when it comes to customer service and satisfaction. jlk

You Received great answers about the insulin problem. But I just have to add..... Who cares what color the cabins are decorated in. They are all very nicely decorated and .. Do you also ask what colors the rooms are when going to a hotel? This seems to be a strange question to me. I have been on 2 of Carnival cruise ships and have had the same mauve/pink colors in the cabin each time. I guess I have never ever thought to much about the color till You just mentioned it. Wow.. I am so greatful to be on a cruise i could care less what color the rooms are done in... Just goes to show the priorities of different people. Char

Char
I actually got a Carnival brochure that had a better pic of the rooms. The picture I was looking at was online and looked like everything was in solid pink. And I'm sorry but living in a completely pink room for a week would not be my idea of fun. (At least not that shade). But as I said I saw a much better picture in the brochure and could tell it wasn't just pink. It looked much nicer and not nearly so overwhelming. I had been wondering if it really was overwhelming in person or if I had just seen a bad pic. I'm glad someone that has seen them actually wrote back.

Carnival will provide a refrigerator for your cabin for the insulin. I have a family I have been planning a cruise for and I notified Carnival of the medical condition and they were only too happy to provide a fridge for their stateroom.

I have RA and I am on 2 medications that I self inject twice a week. One of them is genetically engineered and has to be refrigerated at all times. (traveling with it in the special cooler and ice block is always fun)...

Anyway - I was on the Spirit. I called Carnival ahead of time so that the refrigerator could be unlocked ASAP, and a sharps container provided. As soon as I saw our cabin steward I explained the situation - it was unlocked. I moved some of the mini-bar items out and left them on the counter, in plain view so that we wouldn't be charged for them. This made room for my meds. There was no problem doing this. I didn't recieve a sharps container so after each injection on my way out somewhere I would just drop the used syringe off at the infirmary. It was no problem. (Carnival had told me one would be provided but it wasn't- no big deal as the walk to the infirmary to drop off the used syringe wasn't really out of the way at all)

I think all of the cruise lines are used to people on board with this need and they do their best to accomodate you.

If things aren't the way you need them to be a quick call to the infirmary and the cabin steward should remedy it promptly.
Have aa great cruise!

Holland America charges $2 per day for a mini frig for meds. and you have to request it ahead of time with a medical note stating what its for. We usually cruise in mini suites and they already have a frig....jean

Last November I sailed Brilliance of the Seas and I had an outside cabin with a small fridge. I had to ask the cabin attendant to open it, but there was no problem. It wasn't a minibar so there was plenty of room for the insulin and other meds I need(ed) to keep rrefrigerated. The great news for me is that I am no longer diabetic!! My endocreinologist took me off insulin 2 weeks ago and blood glucose has been normal ever since. After nearly 20 years with diabetes, what a treat.

Brilliance is a new Royal Caribbean ship and she's absolutely gorgeous. Lots to do, the ship is very well laid out, food is good, I really had no complaints at all. I think you'd probably enjoy it very much.

Yes Carol, what a miracle, thank God. Did you control it with diet alone? I don't think I have ever heard of anyone coming off the insulin once it is started. That is just fantastic. I can imagine the feeling and the indepedence that you must feel now. I am really excited for you. Have fun. Denise